Aphrodite
February 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: 
Aphrodite is the Cretan and Greek goddess of love and beauty.
Her name means “born from the foam”. Her birth place is thought to be the foam off of the islands of Cyprus or Kythira, Milos where he famed Venus de Milo was found, which is associated with her in modern times. The basic story goes that Aphrodite rises from the foam of the waves of the sea, enchanting anyone who sees her and inciting feelings of love and lust wherever she goes.
A temple to Aphrodite is on Kythira, an island she visited. The island of Cyprus has many places believed to have been enjoyed by Aphrodite when she was on earth. The most famous legend of Aphrodite is the beginning of the Trojan War. Aphrodite can be invoked for love, sexuality and passion (hence the term aphrodisiac). Aphrodite is especially potent in candle and mirror spells, romance and for love rituals involving the sea.
Family History:
Aphrodite is commonly believed to have been born when Kronus cut off Ouranos’ genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the foam aphros (se foam) rose Aphrodite. Another belief is that her parents are Zeus, King of the Gods, and Dione, an early earth/mother goddess.
Because of her beauty other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, and so Zeus married her to Hephaestus the lame smith-god who was not considered a threat. Although married, Aphrodite felt no pain in being deceitful, as she flourished in the fact that she could have anyone and everyone, love and admire her. Aphrodite had many miscellaneous children as a result of her whimsical affairs, but a few of her more familiar ones are, Eros (god of Love), Rhodos, Herophilus, Hermaphroditus, Priapus and Aneas.
Depiction:
Aphrodite had no childhood: in every image and each reference she is born adult, nubile, and infinitely desirable.
Images of Aphrodite from the Archaic and Early Classical periods are clothed and formal. However, from the fourth century BC through the Roman period, the image of the nude Aphrodite became a means of exploring female physical beauty, grace, and charm.
Aphrodite’s softly rendered features are framed by loosely waving hair bound up in a chignon. She wears a stephane, or crown, like the famous Capua Aphrodite and countless other renditions on a smaller scale and in other media. The hole near the end of the stephane would have held a metal attachment, most likely of gold, to face the crown. The body of this life-sized Aphrodite would have been nude or partially so.
Aphrodite, in many of the late anecdotal myths involving her, is characterized as vain, ill-tempered and easily offended.
Other information:
Aphrodite has several equivalents Inanna (Sumerian counterpart), Astarte (Phoenician), Astghik (Armenian), Turan (Etruscan) and Venus (Roman). She has parallels with Indo-European dawn goddesses such as Ushas or Aurora.
Aphrodite also has many other names, such as Acidalia, Cytherea, Pandemos and Cerigo. These names were used in specific areas of Greece. When the Greek cities combined, these lesser names were abandoned and a single name, Aphrodite, was adopted. Each goddess represented a slightly different religion but with overall similarities.
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Tags: Acidalia, Aneas, aphrodisiac, Aphrodite, Ares, Astarte, Astghik, Aurora, beauty, Capua Aphrodite, Cerigo, Cretan goddess of love, Cyprus, Cytherea, Dione, Eros, Greek goddess of love, Hephaestus, Hermaphroditus, Herophilus, Inanna, Kronos, Kythira, love, Milos, Ouranos, Pandemos, Priapus, Rhodos, Turan, Ushas, Venus, Zeus
